Nestable container



P 1952 P. L. WILLIAMS ,609,120

' NESTABLE CONTAINER Filed Feb. 20, 1950 Paul L. Williams I INVENTOR.

Patented Sept. 2, 1952 This invention relates to new and; useful improvements and structural refinements innestable containers, vmore particularly, containers such as are used for delivering bread from bakeriesxtofstores, orthe like, and the principal object of the invention is to provide a container which may benested on another'container in two difierent manners, namely, in a closely spaced relation when the containers are empty,or--in1a substantially spaced relation .when they are filled with bread, the latter arrangement aflording suificient clearance to assure that the bread-does notsusta'indamage I" 'I his-object is achieved by 'the'provism of a container-which consists of a receptacle -ha rig upwardly and outwardlyextendiiig or slanting side walls, an important feature of the invention residing in the provision of keepermembers which are hinged to upper edges to the receptacle and may be swung from an inoperative position outside the receptacle to anoperative position therewithin, whereby another similar container may be nested in substantially spaced relation above the bottom of the underlying container, without damaging the bread in the latter.

Some of the advantages of the invention reside in its simplicity of construction, in its efii cient andexpeditious operation, and in its adaptability to economical manufacture.

With the above more important objects and features in view, and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention consists essentially of the arrangement and construction of parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view, partially broken away, showing two containers nested in a. substantially spaced relation; and

Figure 3 is a side elevational view, similar to that shown in Figure 2, but showing two containers nested in closely spaced relation.

Like characters of reference are employed to designate like parts in the specification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the invention is embodied in a nestable container which is designated generally by the reference character in and consists of a substantially rectangular receptacle I2 having a bottom I! andpairs of upwardly and outwardly extending side walls I 6, l8.

By virtue of its upwardly and outwardly extending or sloping side walls, the receptacle I2 may be nested-in another, fs'unilar receptacle, so that the'bottc'ir'osof the tworecep'tacles are disposed in closely spaced relation, 'a'sisbest shown in Figure 3. This nes'tingis; of course,;possible only "-when"the containers-are empty.

; The side wens l6; re er the receptacle 2 have rolled upperedge' portions to pfovide' a perimetri'c bead ZIP-which accommodates a reinforcing roq 22," th'e bead being broken or recessed at the cor-" facilitate fabrication in" riers ofthejreceptacle aconventionarmanner.

Moreover, "the bead-20 on the side walls 18 is provided with a pair of recesses 24 and with a third" "recess 26 which is disposed -between the recesses 24, so that =portions rod-'22 extending through these recesses are exposed. It is to be noted that these exposed portions are angulated outwardly so as to provide outwardly offset v-shaped hinge members 28 in the recesses and similar hinge members 30 in the recesses 26 as is best shown in Figure 1.

A pair of keeper members designated generally by the reference character 32 are hingedly mounted at the upper edges of the two opposing side walls I8, each of these keeper members consisting of a piece of angulated wire which is provided at the ends thereof with a a pair of eyes 34 which are rotatable 0n the outwardly offset portions or hinge members 28 so that the keeper members 32 may be swung from an inoperative position outside the receptacle as shown in Figures 1 and 3, to an operative position within the receptacle, as illustrated in Figure 2.

Portions of the keeper wires adjacent the eyes of the side walls l8 when the keeper members are in their operative positions, whereby another container like the container I0, may be nested on the first container by having its bottom supported by the elements 40 in substantially spaced relation above the bottom of the underlying container, as illustrated in Figure 2. It is to be noted that suflicient space exists between the bottoms of the two containers to accommodate the contents, but when the containers are empty, the keeper members 32 may be simply swung outwardly so that the containers may be nested in closely spaced relation, as shown in Figure 3.

In order to prevent center portions of the of the reinforcing" keeper wires 32 from bending, suitable loops 42 may be provided thereon to rotatably engage the offset portions of the rod 22 disposed in the recesses 26, as shown in Figure 1.

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will be clearly apparentfrom the foregoing disclosure and, accordingly, further discussion thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, claimed as new is:

what is In a nestable container, the combination of a substantially rectangular receptacle including a bottom and upwardly and outwardly extending side walls ,having rolled upper edge portionsto provide a perimetric bead, a reenforcing rod p0si-:

tioned in said bead, the bead on two opposing side walls being provided with recesses whereby at least two longitudinally spaced portions of said rod are exposed onveach of the two opposing side walls, and a pair of keeper members provided on ,the respective opposing side walls and each consisting of an angulated wire provided at opposite ends thereof with eyes rotatably mounted on said spaced portions of said rod whereby said wires may be swung from an inoperative position outside said receptacle and spaced therefrom to an operative position inside the same, 3

intermediate-portions of said wires in an operaeyes, and. said support elements having short shanks comprising intermediate portions of the elements, said shanks extending substantially normal to'portions of the elements at either end or the shanks and engaging inner surface portions of said side walls when in operative positions, said shanks being offset from said eyes a distance substantially equal to the outward extension of the exposed spaced portions, all portions of said elements being spaced from said side walls when in inoperative position so that the elements are not ordinarily fouled by expanding food products during the baking of the same in said container. I

- PAUL L. WILLIAMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date- 1,219,969 Lowe ,:Mar; 20, 1917 1,689,217 White Oct. 30,1928 2,175,390 Harrison O'ct. l0,v 1939 140L063 Fordon May 28, 1946 

